John Edwards is First Name Uncovered in ‘Millionaire Madam’ Investigation … MANHATTAN — A call girl working for alleged “Millionaire Madam” Anna Gristina told investigators she was paid to have sex with former U.S. Sen. John Edwards when he was in New York raising money for his failed presidential bid, DNAinfo has learned.

Jeb Bush: It's time to support Romney as Republican candidate  —  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says Republican front-runner Mitt Romney has earned the right to take on President Obama in November.  —  “It is time to get behind the nominee,” Bush told the Tribune-Review on Wednesday during a visit to Pittsburgh.

French Slaying Suspect Dead After Police Raid Hideout  —  TOULOUSE, France —A 23-year-old Frenchman who claimed responsibility for the killings of four men and three children died on Thursday after jumping from a balcony as security forces stormed the apartment where had been holed up for more than 30 hours …

How Paul Ryan sold his budget plan  —  The Paul Ryan budget was a political disaster last year for Republicans.  This year the GOP had a much more methodical, careful rollout.  —  The party polled on Medicare in 50 battleground districts.  It vetted the plan with a dozen conservative groups.

Please Stop Apologizing  —  THIS week, Robert De Niro made a joke about first ladies, and Newt Gingrich said it was “inexcusable and the president should apologize for him.”  Of course, if something is “inexcusable,” an apology doesn't make any difference, but then again, neither does Newt Gingrich.

Health law could hinge on wheat, pot and broccoli  —  The survival of President Barack Obama's signature health care law may come down to wheat, pot, guns — and a nagging question about broccoli.  —  Strange as it may seem, those diverse topics are apt to surface repeatedly during next week's arguments …

New Hampshire gay marriage repeal fails  —  (Reuters) - New Hampshire lawmakers easily defeated a bill on Wednesday that would have been the first step toward reversing the state's law that allows same-sex couples to marry.  —  The attempt to repeal a law that made gay marriages legal in the state …

Americans Favor Keystone XL Pipeline  —  Republicans twice as likely as Democrats to say the government should approve it  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — A solid majority of Americans think the U.S. government should approve of building the Keystone XL pipeline, while 29% think it should not.

Occupy Protester Dumped Tub of Feces: Police  —  Police said Occupy Wall Street protesters were captured on surveillance video dragging a large receptacle of human urine and feces into a public space in Lower Manhattan  —  This is raw surveillance video of Occupy Wall Street protesters …

Joe Biden in 2016?  Not so crazy  —  For the past couple of years, Vice President Joe Biden has quietly assembled an A-team of advisers who would, without doubt, be considered the nucleus of a presidential campaign — if only he wouldn't be 73 in 2016.  —  Biden's age would snuff the last embers …

When Romney Liked High Gas Prices  —  As he campaigns for president, Mitt Romney is ratcheting up his attacks on Barack Obama over high gas prices, putting the issue at the center of his economic message.  He is calling for Obama to fire his Energy secretary, EPA administrator …

The inexorable march of creative destruction  —  Retreat need not mean surrender.  Still . . .  —  In 1886, a shipment of $25 watches from a Chicago jeweler was rejected by the addressee in Redwood Falls, Minn. The jeweler offered to sell the undeliverable goods for $12 apiece …

Goldman conducts company-wide email review: sources  —  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has begun scanning internal emails for the term “muppet” and other evidence that employees referred to clients in derogatory ways, Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein told partners in a conference call this week …

Opponents Of Florida's 2005 ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law Predicted ‘Racially Motivated Killings’  —  SANFORD, FL — Nearly one month after shooting and killing Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman remains a free man.  The Sanford Police maintain that Zimmerman's conduct was legally justified under …

How al-Qaeda tried to control the media  —  Among the last known images of Osama bin Laden is a video seized at his compound the night he was killed, which shows the al-Qaeda leader hunched before a television screen studying a video of himself.  It's testimony to bin Laden's obsession …

Jason Mattera interviews someone — is it Bono?  —  Jason Mattera, editor at large at Human Events, is famous for rough-and-tumble journalism.  Last year he created a sensation when he pulled something of a fast one on Vice President Biden.  He distracted the veep by pretending he wanted to pose for a picture with him.